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Tuesday, 19 February 2008

Loretta Lux

Last up for now in my pictures worth looking at is The Rose Garden by Loretta Lux. I love Loretta's work so much I wrote an MA thesis on it - it's time-consuming and is incredibly thought out both in the digital manipulation and in the actual shooting. It combines the personal with the art historical and the pictures are also very true to the children she shoots.

My favourite Loretta Lux is the Rose Garden which uses the exterior of a walled garden against which Emily with her pale skin and bruised legs can stand against. Emily (who is English) is flawed and kitted out in the gear with a DDR feel that makes Lux's work so distinctive and adds to the dark undercurrents it contains. Loretta's vision of childhood is not quite so saccharine as some, indeed many, people think.

I used to think of her work as a series, but now I don't. It is more a line of individual pictures (some of which are more equal than others) that correspond to the children she photographs and I think looking at them in those terms undermines some of the criticisms she has had - many of which are also to do with other things.

Such as - she makes stacks of money, lives in the godforsaken principality of Monaco (in the same apartment block where Helmut Newton once lived), and is big on animal rights - and is not afraid to let furry fashion people know it. For all her sudden rise to fame and fortune, she is not your celebrity art photographer in any way whatsoever. She is also incredibly protective of her work and is not afraid to let people know it. Which makes her even more lovely in my book. Absolutely fabulous!